"Originally, the stone age was thought to have occurred only 26,000 years ago, but this pushes the time frame of development of tools back significantly.

Since that time, 700,000 year old flint tools have been found in Pakefield, Suffolk, UK, at a time when the climate there was much warmer. Human activity was thought to have been in Southern Europe 780,000 years ago, but it is not clear if this activity is ascribable to an ancestor of modern man or to that of an earlier hominid."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semliki_harpoon

"Part of our uncertainty comes from a lack of information about whether or not the Blue Nile existed at this time, and if so, how much water flowed through it. The Ethiopian highlands began to form about 40 or 50 million years ago as a result of tremendous volcanic activity as a mantle plume punctured the crust, but the distinctive basaltic sediments derived from these highlands is not recognized in Egypt until deposits of the Prenile were laid down, about 700,000 years ago.

Increased strength of northward flow from the Ethiopian highlands may be due in part to development and intensification of monsoonal circulation in the recent past. Monsoonal circulation is due to the change position of atmospheric low-pressure cells, which lie over the equatorial Indian Ocean during northern winter and over south-central Asia during northern summer. The result is that cold, dry winds blow south from Asia during northern winter, but warm, moist winds blow from the sea towards Asia in northern summer. The westward deflection of summer winds due to the Coriolis Effect brings part of the moisture-laden air currents over Ethiopia, where the air cools as it rises. Cool air can hold less moisture than warm air, so clouds and then rain forms as the monsoon rises over the Ethiopian plateau. This brings the long, drenching rains in Ethiopia that causes the annual Nile flood.

The monsoonal circulation has intensified over the last few millions of years due to continued uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. It would be a wonderful thing to be able to go back in time and tell the ancient Egyptians that the mystery of the Nile Flood could best be understood by knowing about mountain-building events that were occurring thousands of miles away! Water from the Ethiopian highlands may not have reached Egypt because the Nubian Swell acted as a barrier, perhaps deflecting the water to the west. It may be that only with the additional water provided as a result of the intensifying monsoon that the upstream Nile was able to erode its way through the Nubian Swell and continue north to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Prenile flowed from perhaps 700,000 until about 200,000 years ago, when a desert occupied N. Africa. It can be safely said that the Prenile was the largest and most vigorous of the Nile precursors, with a wide floodplain. Its sources lay south of Egypt, and the presence of abundant pyroxene in these sediments indicates that the Ethiopian highlands were imprint sediment sources for the first time. A large proportion of sediments in the Nile Delta were deposited by this phase of the river, as much as 1000m thick. The Prenile marks the dawn of the present transcontinental river system, establishing flow from Ethiopia to the Mediterranean Sea and probably also from the Sudd

The Neonile began about 120,000 years ago and was established at a time when North Africa was well-watered, with numerous lakes. Crude stone fashioned by humans are found in these sediments. The Neonile was significantly less vigorous than the Prenile. Contributions from the White Nile have grown slowly with time, and probably were important for the development of the Neonile. Lake Victoria did not exist prior to about 12,000 years ago. Before this time, the streams of the Ugandan highlands flowed west to join the Congo, which drains into the equatorial Atlantic. Very recent uplift tilted the region to make the lake and direct its excess to flow north. This was important because the waters of the White Nile provide most of the Nile's water during the Ethiopian dry season. Several episodes when the N. Africa was wetter or drier can be identified. It was after the last wet period, sometime after 10,000 years ago, that hungry nomads migrated to the Nile Valley and Delta and took up farming. This led in turn to the establishment of civilization in Egypt, about 5,000 years ago."

"Oral tradition has it that the Calabar Kingdom and the indigenes of the old Calabar Kingdom, located at the coastal South South Nigeria existed thousands of years before the current era. Many believe that the old Calabar Kingdom is the original location of the Biblical Garden of Eden ((APF, Dec. 26, 2007), (Macau Daily Times, January 6, 2008)).

However, the people of old Calabar Kingdom (present day Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State) have had ancient religious practices that strongly resembled some of the Jewish Torah which European missionaries and traders that arrived in the early 1400s called "Traditional Religion. These include their traditional sacrifice of animals (rituals) by the presiding male of each village, or of a group of villages, for purification, especially during times of sickness.

According to Nair (1975), in early history of Nigeria, the Efik people (people of old Calabar Kingdom) were often referred to as Efik Eburutu, "Ebrutu" being a local term that came into being as a result of the corruption of the word "Hebrew", and Ututu. Ututu being one of the early settlements of the Efik people in the coastal southeastern Nigeria. Hence, the Jewish origin of the Efik people (Efik/Ibibio/Annang) was well known in early history.

Also, Hebrew words are in common use within the region of the old Calabar Kingdom. For example, Itai, the traditional head of Annang group is a Hebrew word and the name of one of King David's Army General. Another group in the Calabar Kingdom, has the name Oron which is a name of a prominent Hebrew Industrial city in Israel."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaang